Kingsbury opens moguls World Cup season with gold in Ruka
Mikaël Kingsbury kicked off his 2024-25 campaign to reclaim the Moguls Crystal Globe with a victory at the season-opening FIS Freestyle Moguls World Cup event in Ruka, Finland, on Saturday.
The undisputed “King of Moguls” dominated the competition, securing the gold medal with a score of 83.90. This put him atop the podium ahead of Sweden’s Walter Wallberg (81.14) and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima (80.51), who finished second and third, respectively.
As he enters his 16th season on the World Cup circuit, Kingsbury already holds the record for the most World Cup victories by any male athlete in any skiing discipline, having surpassed Ingemar Stenmark last year. This win marks Kingsbury’s 91st World Cup victory.
Despite clinching both the dual moguls and overall moguls titles last season, Kingsbury fell just 10 agonizing points short of capturing the moguls Crystal Globe. That honour went to long-time challenger, Horishima, who dethroned Kingsbury to claim his first-ever moguls Crystal Globe.
Kingsbury was joined by some younger teammates, including Elliot Vaillancourt, who finished eighth overall (75.07). Vaillancourt will be looking to make his mark this season after snagging his first FIS World Cup podiums last season.
This year, Ruka exclusively featured the moguls event, with aerials starting their season in the new year.